No Man’s Sky has come a long way. The last patch, Beyond, was a veritable laundy list of further tweaks and improvements to the experience. But if you skimmed reactions to the update, you would be forgiven for thinking that all they did was turn some grass pink and let you sit in chairs.

A more skeptical mind might ponder if perhaps this is merely indicative of the sorry state the game launched in; that its players had literally nowhere to go but up, to the point where sitting down was a revelation to be celebrated in earnest.

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OfficerRickyRoss

Maybe EA can pull off that with Anthem. Game lasted barely a few months before it died. If No Man’s Sky or The Division can pull it off, who knows..

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25 days ago

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foducool

too late, they pulled the plug already

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25 days ago

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FITCamaro

We’ll see what comes after Cataclysm. I’m still tempted to pick it up when the Legions of Dawn edition is $20. I figure Black Friday sales might go even lower. I know it was already $15 once.

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24 days ago

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Urazz

Too soon to know. If they don’t announce any plans like one month after the cataclysm is done then I think it is safe to say the game is dead.

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23 days ago

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ArdentSlacker

All they ever had to do with Anthem was to up the drop rate. But I guarantee that someone in marketing had done the math to show the shitty drop rate was “ideal” according to testing data, and anything more would cause people to be too happy to pay them more and more money. So rather than accept that they were wrong, they fought back every time a “bug” in a patch fixed the drop rates to something sensible. There’s almost no way those were bugs, that shit smells more like a developer slipping in a tweak to try and… Read more »

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23 days ago

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D Harshman

I don’t think marketing departments usually have anything to do with features of the products they advertise for…

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23 days ago

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Max Savage

When it comes to micro-transactions (and the drop-rate in that game was designed to “encourage” players to buy them), the marketing department certainly has a say.

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18 days ago

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v Z

Sitting down is nice, but adding the tiny tag “visited” by the names of aliens you’ve already spoken with? That is a game changer. In the defense of player base – it’s not about how good these little QoL things are. It’s how badly they were needed from the very beginning or how stupid some moves even after the release were. Sitting down… alien trading posts were literally a third launchpads and two thirds waiting rooms with rows of chairs – and aliens standing around them – looking stupid. And few patches ago the biome generator was dumbed down. Simplyfying… Read more »

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25 days ago

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ArdentSlacker

Eh. While I agree that the game part of the game ain’t great, the new user experience is solid enough as a game start.

I feel like the only way to make it something amazing and satisfying would involve… adding politics? But, eh. The thing that it reminds me most of right now is actually warframe. Also moderately multiplayer with procedural generation and not a lot of defined endgame.

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23 days ago

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ReaverRogue

Oh EA, BioWare and Square Enix… Most video game players are easily pleased. However, the kind of crap you all pull off with piecemeal DLC, episodic releases that will no doubt cost as much as a complete game from another studio and the sinfully outrageous lootbox gambling systems displease gamers to such an extent that they can’t help but approach anything you pump out with utterly unforgiving scepticism.

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25 days ago

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ClientSide

Just so you know, the list here is “Oh, EA, EA, and Square Enix”.

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25 days ago

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Sanquin

Yea, that’s one of the huge differences. Players have become excited about every new NMS update because every single update and what other companies would sell as DLC has been FREE up until now. Plus no macro transactions (they’re really not micro any more) either.

That being said, being able to sit and stuff like that only got a “meh” from me. The real big ones are the new anomaly, VR, creature riding/keeping, and an overhaul of the progression system.

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25 days ago

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Scrysis

I also think it is the fact that players WANT to like developers. Hello Games has shown that they made mistakes the first release and have for YEARS actively been fixing them. Fixing the game goes a long way to generating goodwill with players. Add in what you mentioned with the game NOT having any exploitative mechanics, and you can easily see why players are lavishing Hello Games and No Man’s Sky with praise.

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24 days ago

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No Guy Buy

It’s neither option in the post. It’s just the No Man Boys being completely rabid cultists like they have since launch.

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25 days ago

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Deaks

Guy, we get it.. you’re super-duper-mega salty about this game. I think you got your point across on the last NMS strip. Are you shooting for another -60 votes? LET IT GO.

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24 days ago

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Eldest Gruff

You want him to let it go? Let it go? He can’t hold it in anymore.
So let it go? That’s a ‘no.’ You know he’s already heard it before.
He doesn’t care what you’re going to say.
Let the hate rage on!
The votes never bothered him, anyway.

… that dang movie has ruined me.

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23 days ago

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Urazz

And just think, there is a sequel coming so there is probably going to be another song that is going to ruin you even more.

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23 days ago

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Basti

Seriously Tim, its obvious, and you know it. You are comparing three massive publishing studios with a indie studio. Three massive companys who, for many years now, fuck over players over and over and over and over with utterly shit games after a hype campain. And once everyone sees their shit game, they just pull the plug, and repeat the entire process. Anthem anyone? Comparing that to an indie studio, that went on to make their dream game, told everyone about their dream game, failed to actually deliver on said dream game, but then went on after release to continue… Read more »

I’m not comparing anything. I made a joke about how three companies that can’t seem to do anything right according to their playerbases, are jealous that a developer can put in pink grass and reap the praises. Of course there are reasons why its different; that’s the POINT. The big companies being oblivious to what makes NMS’s turnaround a success story.

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24 days ago

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Allon

But, Hello Games screwed up sitting!! I say that lovingly, but I do hope they fix it. Standing in a trading post on a hazardous planet will properly restore your protection. However, if you sit down in a trading post you start losing protection as if you were outside.

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24 days ago

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Dan

To be fair, it took a while for NMS to build up the the positivity it has now, if these features had come out a month after launch people would not be so happy about it.

Follows the saying, it takes moments to destroy a reputation and years to rebuild one.

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24 days ago

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Urazz

Yeah and each update was free and improved the game by leaps and bounds from being the piece of garbage it was before. Now it’s pretty much at the point of being what was promised. All they got to do is keep Sean Murray from being the hype man for future projects and make sure he doesn’t promise things they will not be able to finish by launch.

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24 days ago

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Him.

Still, there’s something to be said about NMS being the little boy who went from making a pile of sand and calling it a sandcastle to being a grown man who creates vast, textured sandscapes.
The dedication to this game means a lot.

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24 days ago

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Urazz

Should Square Enix be part of that group? They have done the same thing with Final Fantasy 14 and their latest expansion, Shadowbringers, is seen as being really good. I think instead of EA, we should’ve seen Activision instead.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Mind you Square Enix is more than just FFXIV and maybe their other franchises aren’t as well loved at the moment.
Completely agree that Activision-Blizzard should have been there.

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24 days ago

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Resulli

You’re forgetting Final Fantasy 15 and the fact that by the time all the DLC was fully released you could have spent a couple hundred dollars on it. Not to mention the fact that the game is practically a different game now but people are mostly going to remember how it was originally and a lot of people weren’t fans of it back then. And that was after the fact that the game was intentionally designed with western game sensibilities (to some extent) to try to appeal to western gamers more. Then you have things like Kingdom Hearts where they… Read more »

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24 days ago

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Urazz

You do point out that Square Enix has made mistakes and I wasn’t arguing against that. I was just arguing that they aren’t even on the same level as Activision-Blizzard and EA when it comes to pleasing customers and so shouldn’t even be included in that comic. There are plenty of other companies out there that could’ve filled in those spots of Bioware (part of EA and so shouldn’t be there) and Square-Enix.

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24 days ago

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Resulli

The point I was trying to make is that Square Enix is notorious for never being able to satisfy their fanbase. You asked whether they really fit in here and they absolutely do. The author could have used many other examples, yeah, but that doesn’t mean Square Enix doesn’t fit the bill also.

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24 days ago

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James Rye

Lol, imagine someone being so happy about pink Grass. xD

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24 days ago

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Leon

Pink grass lovers unite!

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24 days ago

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Caleb

Hey EA, if you didn’t spend 99.9% of your energy screwing your players over repeatedly, you might find it easier to please them with that 0.01% of effort you do put in Bioware, they’re owned by EA aren’t they? kinda unfair to call them out separately from EA Square Enix… I’m not sure why they’re here? I haven’t had any complaints about them recently other than how long it’s taking to get my FF7 remake… and maybe how I got my ALMOST PERFECTLY HAPPY ending for KH3 only to have just one bit of tragedy serve as sequel bait and… Read more »

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24 days ago

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Bigby

There is a Reddit post in the NMS subreddit about this comic. From the first comments: “Johnnyoneshot: One word… free. No dlc bullshit. No loot boxes or season pass. No devs reacting to the people complaining by calling them names. And a lot of people that have this game at number 1 on their top 5 list.” Also: “Racoonpuncher: Easily 90% of Beyond was never promised prior to release. VR, base changes, animal riding, the Nexus… Almost all of the last update (outside of QoL improvements and adjustments) was above and beyond what was promised for release. HG never promised… Read more »

I know WHY No Man’s Sky has had a successful turnaround. I have done MULTIPLE comics championing that very turnaround.

The joke is about other oblivious companies that DON’T manage to please their playerbases, looking at all of the talk of grass and sitting and thinking NMS must just have easier-to-please players.

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24 days ago

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Bigby

Please don’t misunderstand. I totally get the joke. (And you nailed it, BTW.) Just thought you’d find the NMS community response interesting. On a personal level, I find it entirely unsurprising that EA and Bioware and Ubisoft et al cannot figure this out. They stopped being about the passion of making games a long time ago. The people there that really LOVE making games are crushed under the weight of the corporate structure that just wants to turn out ever higher profits every year. Not that there is anything wrong with profits. Profits are important to keeping a business afloat.… Read more »

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23 days ago

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Urazz

Bioware is owned by EA so I’d say it’s more that EA is preventing Bioware from figuring that out.

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23 days ago

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JadedNMS

HelloGames QC is not up to snuff. People who have AMD gfx cards either are unable to run the game or have missing textures. Prior to the Beyond update those same people had to suffer subpar performance of the game. Sure they delivered new features not mentioned but they certainly missed the mark in Quality Control. I think this little issue gets missed. I do get the joke that Tim made but _at the very least_ EA, Square Enix and Bioware deliver a product that will for the most part be playable by most of their player base. HG has… Read more »

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24 days ago

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Allon

Before Beyond I’ve played with a 1080ti and a Radeon VII. Cards perform about the same in other games, as well as NMS. I also see plenty of posts of performance issues for both manufacturer’s. My point being it wasn’t a crippling problem. The point of changing from OpenGL to Vulkan was to fix that performance issue.

As for how AMD works in Beyond, I know they put out an update yesterday resolving most(if not all) issues specific to AMD. I no longer have the Radeon VII, so I wouldn’t be able to confirm that however.

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24 days ago

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JadedNMS

Yeah it looks pretty when the game runs. The update is still not without a good portion of the player base unable to play.

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24 days ago

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Neko-Kun

It also helps that Hello Games has never asked for a single penny since the initial launch of NMS. No micro transactions, no loot boxes, no pay to win mechanics. One reason I quit Overwatch when it finally dawned on me how much I spending on loot boxes. I wouldn’t be surprised IF the next major update, if it’s as big as beyond, would cost a little money. But I’ve been playing this game since day one. Yes, I was disappointed at first. Now the games has surpassed what was initially promised. There are one or two small features I… Read more »

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24 days ago

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Siku The Destroyer

So what is the endgame to NMS? Has it changed from when the game first came out, where it was basically nothing? Is there a story now?

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24 days ago

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Robert Loughrey

Its the same thing it is in every sandbox game. When your base is as built up as you want, youre done.

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24 days ago

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Nate

I gotta say Tim, even though the fourth guy on the bench is just like… a light bulb thing… I can tell by the body language that he’s leaning in and “looking” at his compatriots.

Your art has come so far. This little detail blows me away.

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24 days ago

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Alex

Maybe if Square didnt insult their player by making a definitive ver of a game exclusive to one console and the other consoles are stuck with the basic game instead with no hopes for DLC, we won t be this angry. And also Selling FF 7 remake at 60$ when the game only cover 10% of the original game with a lot of FILLER that is Unnecesary only to pad the game so that people can justify their purchase is not OK. And thoses are my problems with Square enix right now.

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24 days ago

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Urazz

I’d hold off on the complaints of FF7 Remake until it is fully released and you can actually play it and get the story and such. From what I’ve seen the first game is going to be all Midgar and it’s going to be expanded upon. While you may see it as pointless filler, a lot of people are actually happy about that.

I’m wary of the episodic format of FF7 Remake but I’ll hold off judgement until we know how many episodes they’ll split up the original FF7 story into.

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24 days ago

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Javada

Sorry guys. You have a LONG history of producing good quality games that were deep and immersive and a fan base that REMEMBERS that history. We all know you’re producing crap now in order to get rich off the haul-away service later.

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24 days ago

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Prime_pm

I’m still hoping for success in Dragon Age 4.

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24 days ago

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TL Sheff

World of Warcraft’s favorite pass-time for a lot of players was “/dance”. No matter where, battleground after killing an enemy, bored in a major city, going afk in a field in the middle of nowhere. Dance.

Just saying. You gotta enjoy the little things.

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24 days ago

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Him.

I would say that No Man’s Sky started as “terrible” and grew up into “decent” with the first few updates, and now it is finally getting into “good” and everyone is enjoying it. Odds are what we were actually supposed to get is now about where it is now, or at least within driving distance.

Or maybe pink grass is just really really pretty?

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24 days ago

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Him.

I haven’t played NMS in quite a while, this looks tempting…
Has it evolved into the true “uber Minecraft in space” tier game it was supposed to be?

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24 days ago

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Arthiem

I decided to try it, I mean I paid for it three years ago so why not?

I feel the VR punishes you for not using PSVR the HUD isn’t bound to your head so I’m always losing it, and the controls are messed up (left trigger to walk when I have not one but TWO joy pads?) but it was still alright. I feel Hello Games needs to invest in a Vive and try it out. see how messed up VR is on PC.

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24 days ago

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Nikademus

Ahh… but you can only sit down sometimes. Chairs that you place are still surrounded by the (Patent Pending) Anti-relaxation fields.

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24 days ago

Member

schnozzberries

@Tim

Might be just me, but it’s bugged me enough to comment.

The way this new comment system truncates comments drives me insane. When you expand, it re-formats the text and creates a wicked disconnect from the previous read location.

I appreciate the desire, dare I say need, for the feature, but any idea if that’s a feature you have control over?

I’ve noticed it… I dont think I have control over it, but I will look.

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23 days ago

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Kaelin

Just picked up NMS recentlyu. Only on the first planet still (nearly died to storms).. didn’t have much time to play but was fun. I look to enjoy playing more of it. I’ve ignored most of the ‘hype’ about it so walking in with fresh eyes, looks neat.

Wonder how long that ‘neat’ feeling will last 😀

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23 days ago

Guest

Zegram219

Heres hoping Andromeda gets some of this. I get that a lot of people hated the game, but I honestly I felt it wasn’t that bad, and at least deserved one story dlc before the plug was pulled.